What type of game does the simulation market crave the most right now?

[GoldenEagle]

With OOTP5 and TDCB coming out recenlty and CM4 due later this month, I wondered out loud what kind of simulation game does the market really crave right now?

I have provided some choices for you to vote for. If you vote other, please clarify. I know this is a football message board, but we all like and respect other sports.

[Airhog]

Nascar would be cool.

[KWhit]

College football baby!

[sianews]

Originally posted by Airhog
Nascar would be cool.

Seconded. Nascar was made to be a text sim :).

[korme]

BASKETBALL.

[sabotai]

I am hoping it's football with multiplayer. :)

[Havok]

I said football and ill explain.

FOF series is good but its never been tested. If the makers of CM or OOTP made a football sim it would blow FOF away IMO. Now i know .400 is making Football.net and its due out in the fall (which i seriously doubt we'll be playing it in the fall, considering they've barley even started making it). So hopefully it will kick ass and fill the void for us football junkies.

We could also use another Collage Football sim. I liked TCY but the recruiting was just WAY to dam time consuming. I didnt like spending an 30 mins (sometimes more) before every game recruiting. Seemed like overkill to me.

A Nascar sim would be cool. I'd definetly buy that.

We dont need another baseball sim. OOTP5 is more then enough. If you dont like the OOTP series, then you wont like any baseball sims.

[GoldenEagle]

So far as I predicted the race is really close.

I think a baseball game could have an untapped market because OOTP and others are lacking alot of features that many users would like to see.

A multiplayer football game is one that everyone on this board would probaby like to see. But FOF is a solid game and with the new .400 sports game coming out in fall, it could be diffcult for a new engine to break in.

TCY left alot of unfilled voids in my mind, including play calling and more realistic recruiting. I think a game could do well here.

A political sim could be one to emerge. With all the talk of war and what not, it would be neat to have a game where you could be head of the state. But a game like that seems almost impossible to program and could take years to put together.

[MikeVic]

Basketball. I know of no DECENT NBA sim out there :(

[GoldenEagle]

Basketball is an interesting one too. I played HeavyReign's game and enjoyed it very much. I have never played JSB.

I have never really heard people (on this board anyway) discuss the NBA and the current NBA games out there dont have much of a community. I dont really think there is a market there.

[Craptacular]

TCY is great, and I could care less about multi-player (assuming you mean online). I would like to see the ability for one person, or multiple people playing on the same computer, to take more than one team. I'd rather have a designer spend more time on the AI than code to swap files all over the place.

I would really like to see a good political sim.

[Iceberg]

Most definately basketball

[FBPro]

Well, one point to consider concerning the 400 football sim, is that a fair amount of the engine was completed "last fall" when they had originally talked about releasing it so they aren't really just now starting work on it.

[General Mike]

Personally, I voted for Other, because I would like to see a racing sim (Nascar, F1 or Indy car, any is fine) and as far as I know, there are NO text sim racing games. There are 2-3 basketball games already out there, and while they may not be perfect, I think with more fine tuning the existing games can move up to a higher level of respect. .400 Studios upcoming Courtside Challenge game sounds like it could be very good, and I know HeavyReign is working very hard on his FastBreak series.

[GoldenEagle]

Wow, 0.01 posts per day, that is impressive.

I just dont think there is a market for a racing game. I know it has been discussed before, but I just dont see anyone developing it do to lack of interest.

[Airhog]

There have been a few games that came close to being text sims in the racing category, but they lacked alot in the text department :D

[GoldenEagle]

Wow I think this might be the closet poll ever on FOFC.

[samifan24]

bump

We need everybody to vote, people! The results are already interesting and we all wanna see what the FOFCers say, so everybody vote please!!

[GoldenEagle]

Originally posted by samifan24
bump

We need everybody to vote, people! The results are already interesting and we all wanna see what the FOFCers say, so everybody vote please!!

Well said.

[tucker342]

I think a political game would be pretty cool, so that I could show that I would be a better president than Bush ;)

[Shkspr]

Exposing my geekiness...

The sim I want to see is a PGA sim - something more like FOF than Links or Tiger Woods. I'm fascinated by the drama that goes on during the Tour, where one or two high finishes a year mean the difference between keeping a card and going through Q School. The financial game, particularly at the low end, would be a week to week nailbiter, as the player has to grind out each week. Even the best players can drop a 75 out there and even the worst can catch lightning in a bottle.

I would like the game to program in a full Tour schedule, with accurate rules for determining the field each week. Offer lots of different equipment, with differing effects on ratings, and then add in a random effect to a players' skills every so often so that they've got a reason to switch equipment to reflect changes in their game. Put in lots of merchandising opportunities. Q School. Sponsor's exemptions. The Ryder Cup. The play-in for the US Open. Running commentary during tournaments.

As a career sim, you wouldn't play every shot, but would play each tourney a hole at a time, electing to play each hole conservatively or aggressively depending on your talents and position in the field. Throw in off the field decisions between tournaments, add in fatigue for playing too demanding a schedule, and I think that this could fly, even without the graphics of the golf sims on the market.

Of course, I'm one of three people in the world that believe it. :)

[bbor]

We need a restaraunt sim :)

[Karim]

A Football Universe sim ...

NFL
College
WFL
CFL
AFL

You could start your coaching/managing career in one of the development leagues and work your way up to the pros.

[FBPro]

Originally posted by bbor
We need a restaraunt sim :)

Fast Food or Pizza Tycoon.

[Havok]

good idea Karim

Im all for that

[ISiddiqui]

I'd go for a political sim, but more specified: a Presidential race. You pick your party and your issues. You decide your campain strategy, and get some random events and stuff you have to comment on. Get poll numbers on many issues and pick which issue to stress, etc.

It'd be awesome :D.

[aquavit]

I would like a more advanced modern version of the old game Shadow President. A political game with a focus on foriegn policy rather than domestic policy and election races.

[JonInMiddleGA]

For me, a definitive NASCAR sim would be the ultimate. But I don't think that's what the market overall craves most.

In fact, I don't think there is a consensus choice, which is why there's so relatively few willing to make the leap & create a text sim.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally posted by ISiddiqui
I'd go for a political sim, but more specified: a Presidential race. You pick your party and your issues. You decide your campain strategy, and get some random events and stuff you have to comment on. Get poll numbers on many issues and pick which issue to stress, etc.

It'd be awesome :D.

The name of it escapes me at the moment but if you'll search for something like "election sim" or "political sim" at The Underdogs, there's should be something almost exactly like you describe.

There's actually several election sims there the last time I checked but there's one that gets into everything you named, as well as time management, fund-raising and advertising.

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Shkspr
The sim I want to see is a PGA sim.
...
Of course, I'm one of three people in the world that believe it. :)

Who's the third?

[cthomer5000]

why does anyone care about play-calling in a simulation game?

[GoldenEagle]

I think it just gives more control. I would like to see TCY with lay-calling.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I would like to see TCY with lay-calling.


I think that might be just a little too personal detail of the players lives to get into for a sports sim :)

[Kevin]

I'm the third one for the PGA sim. (provided curling gets done first)

[GoldenEagle]

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA
I think that might be just a little too personal detail of the players lives to get into for a sports sim :)

You got me there. :D

I'm suprised to see that baseball started strong but hasnt recieved any votes lately.

[GoldenEagle]

Shamless Bump :D

[cincyreds]

Pro Basketball.

Right now, there just isn't Pro game out there right that would really make me buy it.

Hopefully Courtside Challenge will be really good.

[path12]

I vote for the political sim........election politics makes great board games and I don't get why one hasn't been done for pc.....

[Pyser]

hockey!

[GoldenEagle]

Political Sim has taken over.

Hmmmmmm.

[Honolulu Blue]

Lots of good ideas here.

I think Jim is vulnerable with both FOF and TCY. FOF works well enough, but the lack of customizability and lack of difficulty leaves the field open. Similarly, TCY works great if you buy Jim's vision of college football. In some respects I do, but more and more I think there should be something more there.

The golf game described in this thread sounds interesting and I would certainly take a hard look at it - even though I don't much care for the sport. I'd be more interested in a tennis sim myself.

The political sim could work one of at least two ways - focusing on the voting process, and focusing on the decision making process. Either or both would be good.

As far as #1 on my list, General Mike said:
as far as I know, there are NO text sim racing games.

That's not quite true; Grand Prix Wizard (http://www.wizardgames.com/gpw.htm) is an old Formula 1 (mostly) text sim from a few years back. Flawed but enjoyable is the way I'd describe it.

Unfortunately, that's the best anyone has done lately; all the other racing sims require you to take the wheel. I still think a NASCAR text sim would do quite well. And that's my pick.

[cmp]

I really would love to see a NASCAR sim.

[CAsterling]

I always liked the porn industry sim I played about 10 years ago - always hoped someone would come out with an updated version of that game

[Franklinnoble]

Horse racing

[CAsterling]

Dola....
For those whom mentioned a political sim, I thought Monte Cristo games came out with one a year or two ago (their games tend to be too cartoonish for me), I don't know if was any good or not (probably not).

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Nascar sim would be great .
Any Auto Racing sim would be great .

[Mountain]

A NASCAR racing sim would be awesome. The depth of the game could be absolutely amazing. recruiting sponsors. Having attributes for your drivers, pit crew, engineers, research and development. Just thought of another game, maybe a game where you desing and manage a superspeedway and try to recruit big races and big name drivers to your facilites. Just a thought.

[Laddin]

A political sim would be cool...but if we're staying in the realm of sports, I would have to say a multi player football sim or a boxing sim would be at the top of my list.

[Mountain]

Just saw a horse stable management game on sale at EBAy called Stable Masters. Seems as if you can develop your horses by training them and feeding them. Just mentioning it in case anyone is interested.